Swede to head a dynamic endeavor for European car adaptation

Hakan Sandberg is the managing director of Autoadapt Group.The Swedish-based company is Europe’s largest producer of car adaptation solutions for people with disabilities. In addition, he has been a driving force behind CAPI, Car-Adaptation Protocol Initiative, a combined effort for providing the elderly and persons with disabilities all over the EU access to specially adapted vehicles.

CAPI was formed in October of 2007 by auto adaptation companies; the organization includes national authorities from Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Great Brittan and Germany.

“Our purpose is to develop a common EU standard for adaptation of cars for the elderly and for people with disabilities and find ways to bridge national regulations,” according to Hakan Sandberg, recently elected as CAPI’s first Chairperson.

The board representative from the UK are Jenny Richardson, Chairman NMEDA - The National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association - and Paul Gambrell, Grants and Technical Director at Motability.

During the past decade, Autoadapt Group has grown to be Europe's largest supplier for "Adaptation of vehicles to the needs of the elderly and disabled". Today, approximately 85% of production is exported to more than a hundred dealers in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and the South Pacific.

The Autoadapt subsidiary in the U.K., Autoadapt UK Ltd. in Birmingham are one of the largest mobility industry distributors in Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well as in Republic of Ireland. The CAPI initiative are beneficial, not only for Autoadapt UK Ltd., but also for all individuals with special needs in the country.

Most European countries have their own national regulations for safety, crash testing, preservation of handling characteristics after adaptation and approval by authorities. As a result, it is difficult to introduce effective solutions into Europe as a whole so that they can be made available for people with disabilities.

“CAPI’S initiative is based on principles which are already established in various EU directives. We work closely with the European commission and Dr- Reinhard Shulte-Braucks, Head of Unit Automotive Industry. The cooperation guarantees that we can establish uniform regulations for Europe in the future. Our goal is to increase mobility for people with physical and or cognitive limitations in Europe by developing a safety and quality protocol for auto adaptation,” explains Hakan Sandberg.

In only 18-months, CAPI plans to have developed a protocol for performance standards for auto adaptation, criteria for impartial evaluation of companies that modify vehicles for people with disabilities as well as inspection methods for assessment of those companies.

”Our work should result in an accreditation system that guarantees customers with disabilities a sound final product. An adapted vehicle should obviously live up to a safety standard that is as high as for a ‘standard vehicle,’” concludes Hakan Sandberg.